The Strongest Human
by Sarah Slutz
Summary: This is the story of the early years of Krillin, which we don't know a lot about. Read and explore what makes Krillin so determined and kinda sneaky.


**The Strongest Human **

**By: Sarah Slutz**

_Thank you Trynia Merin for betaing! _

_Special dedication for KAMEMAN, who asked me, "How come there aren't any Krilin fics out there?" _

In a lucky place called Ouringui, dwelled a little boy who was destined to be the strongest human to ever live. He only wanted to be a good Shao-lin martial artist... but fate had another song written out for him to sing. But let's hear the story from the beginning...

When Krillin and Sakura had given birth to their first child, they had been intensely overjoyed. He was a perfect baby, and looked exactly like his father.

"Since he looks so much like me, his name will be Krillin too," proclaimed the father. Sakura only snorted. He had no imagination at all, but unfortunately, he was the one responsible for naming their child.

As the years elapsed, Krillin became a very active little toddler. Sakura often brought him to the Shao-lin dojo, and he would stare at the moving forms while she waited for her husband to finish his training.

Time continued to fly by and Krillin was accepted in the children's division. He was unusually talented, and his teachers praised him endlessly. Sakura felt very proud of her child. She was sure that he would be famous; someone important one day.

Suddenly --or at least, that was Sakura's point of view-- little Krillin turned seven. It was an important age, for it was the period when teachers chose a few students to be taught "the really important stuff" as was whispered among the anxious children. Of course, Krillin was chosen among the thirty.

The teachers began instructing the chosen ones. They said the life of a Shao-lin monk was to consist of celibacy, dedication, and most of all, sacrifice. Krillin listened attentively for he was very interested in becoming a great martial artist, just like his _tou-san_.

Then all the youngsters' faces turned to the door of the small room. The wisest, best martial artist, and most skilled sensei made his entrance into the room. There wasn't anything flashy about him. He wore yellow and orange robes, as every other monk did. He drew all eyes toward him, though for his posture, demeanor and power were imposing. Six dots were tattooed on his large, bare forehead. With eyes older than time, he gazed at the young children. He would choose five of the thirty that were present here, and five more from another temple. In all, the sensei would teach ten special boys.

"Each one of you, select a space for yourself. Forget anyone is here. Simply concentrate on yourself and on your movements. Begin doing your kata."

All thirty heads nodded at the sound of his deep baritone.

Slowly, for everything had to be done patiently, each boy took his own place in the room. Krillin had picked a spot near the sensei, but after a couple of minutes, he had forgotten about the man's presence and concentrated only on his own movements.

When the sensei asked them to stop, it was like rising from a deep slumber. Krillin opened his eyes and saw the master was checking everyone's pulse. His was not as slow as he had wanted, but it was pretty near the base line.

Then, the sensei went up to a boy and placed his hand on the youngster's head. The boy bowed. He was a chosen one. Slowly, the boy walked up to the front of the room. The sensei touched three other boys in the same manner. Soon afterwards, the four boys were standing in the front of the room, barely able to contain their excitement.

Krillin's spirits fell, and he felt so very disappointed. Only one was left, and it wouldn't be him. This had been his chance and he had blown it. He knew that after this selection, the master and the five boys would go away to a secluded temple on a mountain and begin their training while he would stay behind.

The sensei approached his direction and stood staring at him for two full seconds. Then, his hand rested heavily on his head.

A joy so great that he would never forget it filled Krillin's entire being; every single cell. He had been chosen!

The five boys bowed to the rest of the children. Krillin and the other four took the robes that were handed to them. After they changed and the other twenty five had left, Krillin still felt as if he was having a wonderful dream, and that his mother would soon come and wake him up. Later on, he would miss his parents, but for now, only the joy of being a chosen one filled his soul.

Wasting no more time, they embarked on the journey that would mark the beginning of their life as monks. Never again would they see their parents, for they had to sever all ties with physical beings. Krillin had already said goodbye to all the people who had known him before. Such was the custom before arriving at the temple where the choosing was to take place. He had also left behind all material goods, only taking with him the clothes that were now discarded somewhere.

After the long trip, they arrived at the temple. It was huge and magnificent, pointing up to the sky and curving to the sides elegantly. Krillin stared at it until the sensei ushered him in. It was the most beautiful vision he had ever seen.

Then, they were introduced to their "big brothers," as the newcomers were told to call them. They were advanced students who would aid them in their training along with sensei. The moment Krillin laid eyes on them, he knew things wouldn't be as good as they had appeared until now. Krillin had known that life as a martial artist would be hard, so hard that he might have wished he had never opted for such a thing. However, he hadn't expected _this_ development.

These guys looked dangerous. Being the smallest in the group of ten boys, he _knew_ he would be an immediate target for bullies. And these boys seemed like bullies, all right. They were at least thirteen, maybe even fourteen years old. All of them were strong and hard-faced.

The sensei departed to leave them with their big brothers and acquaint themselves with the older boys. He would have been better off acquainting himself with a pack of angry wolves.

Immediately, the three BBs --which was their official nickname and an abbreviation of their "title"-- looked at him and smirked. "What do we have here?!" exclaimed the tallest, "A little runt!" The three of them laughed out loud at their own ingenuity.

Krillin knew that was only the beginning.

After several days of comments and laughs, the rest of the boys had clued in and had also begun to taunt him. Only a few acted civilized towards him, and Krillin felt very alone.

"This will make me stronger, they'll see," Krillin thought every day. And indeed it did. A couple weeks elapsed and the laughs continued. Krillin worked constantly; he paid utmost attention to the sensei and practiced on his own. He woke up earlier than everyone and was ready for classes first. When it was time for a meal, he ate the fastest and then was the best one at the practices.

The BBs saw this and got a bit worried. They saw that Krillin had lots of potential and determination, and they didn't like it at all. Soon, the older boys began abusing him physically as well. They would kick him until he was bruised all over and would laugh at his attempts to defend himself. "Is that all you can do?" they mocked as all three of them punched him in the face, lightly enough not to break or bruise anything too badly but hard enough to make him very sore.

Time continued flying by and the sensei did notice Krillin bruised and battered even if he tried hiding it and knew what was going on. What he did was praise the boy even more than usual. In that way, he was making the BBs resentment even worse

_This will make him stronger_, the master thought. _Someday, he will be someone memorable, I just know it. _

After six months of harsh training, Krillin had improved immensely. Soon, the sensei would teach him the more advanced moves and methods.

The big brothers' torment was growing far nastier as well. They were being harsher, crueler. The boys knew Krillin was better than them. Their only method of survival was to whittle down his self esteem so that he wouldn't have the confidence to beat them. Secretly they were afraid. Together, they invented new ways to terrorize him. They disorganized his barracks, tripped him each time he was walking by, hid his razor so that he couldn't shave his head, called him "dwarf", "shortie", "runt" and any other rude name besides his own. Not to mention they began calling him in for "private training sessions" and beating the crap out of him.

Frankly, Krillin was getting desperate, even so much that one day he talked to the sensei himself.

"Sensei. I have a problem with my big brothers," the short boy began succinctly.

The sensei could hear the lack of capital letters in their title.

"I know, Krillin-kun, but in order to become the great martial artist I know you want to be, you must endure this."

"_D-d-demo…_" he stammered, eyes wide.

"I am sorry, but I can't help. Your big brothers must aid you in your training and they can use whatever methods they want. Remember, this will make you stronger."

Krillin was sorely tempted for a few seconds to scream and punch and kick his sensei, but if he had learnt anything in his three years of study it was discipline. Bowing low, he muttered, "Hai, sensei," and walked away.

Three months after that, Krillin finally knew every technique that Shao-lin could teach. His meditation state was nearly perfect, and he had mastered the Lotus Palm. But the unlucky boy was never happy or proud of himself. Every single time he did something well, his big brothers and fellow students would tease and abuse him even more.

So Krillin practiced alone, and did not try to do exceedingly well in his classes and training. This helped a bit, but not much, for they continued as usual.

Krillin's 11th birthday rolled by, but it was not a happy day. All he was given was a brief prayer for his future. Even the meal was as tasteless as always. Normally, big brothers left the temple at seventeen, but these bullies seemed to somehow stay, even if they were all almost eighteen!

During recess time, his tormentors swaggered up to him, sneering in a way that made him wince. "We came to give you a birthday gift, little weakling," they said, and then, they proceeded to beat him up. When Krillin regained consciousness, he dragged himself to his room, and found it a disaster zone. The floor was covered in mud, the mattress was absent, and the walls were stained with crayons and mud. His small closet was completely empty, except for a note that read "SUCKER!" _Where the hell did they get those crayons? _he thought, trying not to cry.

And so minutes became days, days became weeks, weeks became months and months became years.

Soon Krillin turned 13 and the sensei summoned him on that day. Surprised, Krillin went to meet him, asking himself what the sensei could want with him. It was true that for the last couple of months Krillin had felt completely useless. He had learned absolutely nothing new in the past two years. In fact he knew all of the moves, had mastered all the techniques, and frankly, he was bored.

The sensei smiled thinly at him. Krillin smiled back, his lips twitching slightly. He felt incredibly small at the man's side.

"Krillin, it is time for you to go away and look to other horizons," he proclaimed in a deep voice.

At Krillin's blank stare, he continued, "You are not perfect, Krillin, far from it." Krillin nodded, feeling sheepish. "But you have learned all I have to teach in this environment," he voiced, raising his eyes for emphasis, "and you won't learn any more. Go away to the real world, and face real dangers. Look for Kamesennin and train with him. You must leave us now."

Krillin stared and continued to stare. It was the longest speech the sensei had ever given. Suddenly, it dawned on him with great relief. He was free! After six years of hard work and torture he was going away! Forever! And with the sensei's blessing! He didn't need to stay until he was seventeen, bless him. Before he could grin, he bowed and turned around, smiling uncontrollably.

"And don't forget to take some hentai magazines with you. You'll need to lure in the old pervert," the sensei called after him. Krillin didn't even hear, for he was very distracted. But he would remember alright...

Krillin jumped, yelled and ran the whole way to where his big brothers were. On the way, he thought about how bored he was with life controlling him. _No more mister nice guy_, he thought firmly. He knew that he would do anything to get stronger... anything. No matter if he had to cheat and be a sneaky, tricky person.

When he arrived to where his big brothers were, they sneered at him and asked derisively, "And what does the dwarf want here?"

Smiling, Krillin whispered, "Good-bye. Train hard, for someday, we shall meet again, and next time, _there will be nothing to stop me from beating you_."

With that, Krillin turned around and walked away, liberated and happier that he'd ever felt.

Three weeks later, he was plunging head-first into the sand of a tiny island, holding several hentai magazines. ...and wondering what in the world he got himself into.

The End


End file.
